ISTANBUL – Reports of fighting along Kashmir’s cease-fire line don’t normally receive much attention in the western media. Last week, for example, saw a series of clashes on 8 and 10 January that killed both Pakistani and Indian troops.

Bahraini government forces clashed with protesters on Sunday at the funeral of a demonstrator killed by teargas at a previous rally. Violent crackdowns continue as the demonstrators protest against the royal family, ruling for more than 40 years.

The co-founder of social news website Reddit committed suicide in New York City on Friday. Aaron Swartz was facing a controversial trial over the alleged violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He faced decades in prison and a $1 million fine.

In a rare challenge, a Shi'ite Muslim leader publicly criticized Pakistani military chief General Ashfaq Kayani over security in the country on Friday after bombings targeting the minority sect killed 118 people.

Back in August, we brought you the news of Vladimir Franz, a university teacher, painter and composer, who had announced that he was planning to run for President in the Czech Republic's 2013 elections.

Nearly a year ago, I interviewed David Evers, the executive director of Maine’s Biodiversity Research Institute, on the revelation that insect-eating inland songbirds can accumulate mercury at dangerous levels.

An argument over a restaurant bill spiraled out of control in a western Indian city, triggering violent clashes between Muslims and Hindus that killed four people. The mass brawl damaged the surrounding neighborhood and left at least 175 injured.

Call her the girl with no name.
A 15-year-old is suing the Icelandic state for the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother. The problem? Blaer, which means light breeze in Icelandic, is not on a list approved by the government.

Dozens of locksmiths in the Spanish city of Pamplona have vowed to stop aiding authorities in evicting delinquent homeowners. The locksmiths said they would not assist in evictions that led to over 100 suicides in 2012.

Women in Delhi are rushing to apply for gun licenses in the aftermath of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student who died in hospital last weekend, but most will be left defenseless as a result of India’s strict gun control laws.

By the time her season's greeting card and a handwritten note arrived in my office, my old friend Benazir Bhutto was already dead. The card mailed in Pakistan days before her murder, remains on my desk to this today, a touching last link from this re